


No Absolution for Love.

by RedStarFiction



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 06:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10405725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedStarFiction/pseuds/RedStarFiction
Summary: A one shot of what may have been going through Jamie's mind before rescuing Claire from Randall.





	

Jamie could see them through the cracks, Claire pushed over the desk, her breast bare and starkly pale against the dark wood and the cuff of Randall’s sleeve bright against her hair, his hand wrapped in the curls, holding her at his mercy, just as Jamie had in their bedroom the purpose the same but the intent so very different and the sight made him feel sick to his stomach. 

Jamie curled his hand tighter around the pistol hilt, his knuckles cramping with the force of his grip and forced himself to wait for Randall to move the blade from Claire’s throat, just an inch of space would be enough. Aye, Jamie would risk an inch. 

Claire stretched her neck, trying to get away from the cold tip of the blade and for a fleeting moment her eyes, unfocussed and wild with terror, met with Jamie’s and he saw within their depths a danger that he had always known was present. 

The loving of her would always bring danger for there was something about her that drew it. Claire did not mean for it to be so, Jamie knew that, but it did not change the truth of the matter. Whether it was her beauty that drove men to behave recklessly, her wisdom that made them jealous or her healing powers that frightened them, perhaps even her courage which propelled her into danger’s path, to love Claire was to court that peril and to shoulder the weight of it.   
In the fraction of a second that Jamie held her gaze he knew all of this with a certainty and accepted it with a calm that would later surprise him when he remembered it, but within the instant was as natural as breathing. 

“It’s in the eyes, ye can tell if a dog means to bite or a horse to kick by looking for the danger in their eyes. Then it’s up to you whether ye risk it or no’.”

Brian’s voice came to Jamie unbidden and he glanced to his left, expecting to see his father crouched on the ledge beside him. Another shriek escaped the fortress, the sound slipping between the shutters like a fish darting from the depths, momentarily showing itself in the shallow water before disappearing back into the black.

There would be no absolution for his loving her and Jamie would not wish for there to be, he had offered her his life and his soul before God and man both and whether she valued them or not made no difference to him. They were hers, flowers that she could nurture into bloom or burn to ash as she saw fit. Jamie moved his shoulders lightly, feeling the stretched webbing of scarring across his back. By rights he should have been dead a great many times before this day, if his life was forfeit in exchange for hers now, then so be it. She was worth the risk, she was worth everything. His nighean donn. His Sorcha.

The blade, dark in the candle light dropped from Claire’s throat to her breast and Jamie’s eyes hardened. Je Suis Prest. 

He kicked the shutters viciously and stepped into the small chamber room.

“I’ll thank ye to take your hands off my wife.”


End file.
